Changes to the 5 attempt limit set to take effect. Current Texas Education Code §21.048 limits candidates to four attempts to retake any educator certification examination. This means that candidates are limited to a total of five attempts to pass a certification examination. The five attempts include the first attempt to pass the examination and four retakes. A subsection of the law, which currently counts all attempts of the same examination taken before September 1, 2015 as only one attempt, is set to expire. Beginning September 1, 2018,ALL attempts of the same examination will count toward the five-attempt testing limit regardless of when the examination was first attempted. NOTE: Candidates who did not test before 9/1/2015 are not impacted by the change. All attempts have always been included in the attempt count for these candidates.

Certification Testing Overview

All candidates must meet testing prerequisites prior to registering for TExES exams. Once you have completed all requirements for certification (including exams listed below), you will need to apply for your certificate online through the Texas Education Agency (TEA). If you are already a certified teacher, you may add new content/teaching field areas to your existing teaching credential through a method called Certification by Examination.

Initial Teacher Education Program Certification Testing Presentation

To learn basic information about required teacher certification examinations, please view the following PowerPoint presentation. This will also be part of your Professional Development I requirements. The presentation is best viewed on a PC in slide show mode (press F5). Staff from Educator Preparation Services will visit EDUC 3320 classes to introduce ourselves and answer any initial questions students may have concerning the application and testing process.

Required TExES Exams by Certification Area

Many of the TExES exams are offered continuously via computer-administered testing (CAT) while others are only offered on specific 4-day test windows (Limited-Administration CAT):

Certification by Examination

The State of Texas makes available to teachers who have been awarded their initial standard certification the option of adding new content/teaching field areas to their existing teaching credential through a method called Certification by Examination. Although many currently certified teachers prefer to have formal preparation prior to attempting a TExES exam in another content area, the State will allow individuals to challenge the content area TExES exams without any formal preparation. Tarleton does not approve candidates to take any content exam(s) other than those related to the certification field under which they were admitted to the Teacher Education Program.

Adding a non-professional level certification in this way does not require approval from an educator preparation program since the program did not prepare the individual for the content area being added. If you have an initial standard certificate and would like to add another certification by exam only, you can register online at the ETS website and do not need to gain approval through Tarleton to do so. Those wishing to add additional content certifications will register for exams directly through the testing company and once passed, will be required to apply to TEA to have the content area added to their teaching certificate.

Note: Professional certificates cannot be added by simply taking an exam. Professional certificates require preparation through an approved program. Professional certificates include Educational Diagnostician, Principal, Reading Specialist, School Counselor, and Superintendent.